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FAQs About Full Circles
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What is the First Fire?
What are the sacred numbers in the Cherokee tradition?
Why it the connection to ancestry important in the Native American tradition?
What is the story of the First Fire?
How was the fire brought into the longhouse?
Why is fire associated with the elders?
What is the celebration of the fire?
What does ceremony mean in the Cherokee tradition?
What does it mean to be a keeper of the fire?
What is the Cherokee teaching on the origin of disease and medicine?
What is the Ute Prayer?
What is the Pine Straw Dance?
Humor and Gender Translations from the Garretts
What is the First Fire?
"THE FIRST FIRE"
In the "Old Wisdom" teachings, the first fire was the beginning, and every ceremony honors the fire as the ancestor and elder teachers with a reverence and almost mystical acceptance. According to the legends, it starts with a powerful existence or force that is in all things of creation. That includes those things we can see and those things we cannot see. It seems to flow through and connected with all things. Mother Earth represents the physical existence of this force as creator of life and caretaker of life, so to speak. Therefore, we honor Mother Earth with our pipe stem by pointing to her first, then to Father Sky. An elder Medicine Man said that the "Old Ones" would add a slight circle movement with the stem before bringing the pipe stem back to the center. It was to recognize that all this mystical force exist in our circle of life. In this way, Mother Earth is our teacher for how to survive and to continue our way of life.
This force had two keepers in the beginning to recognize that all things existed in pairs and opposites as well. This was the Sun and the Moon. A Cherokee elder used to say that for every living being here on Mother Earth there is a star that physically shines a light that is connected to us. When we pass on, our "little light" goes up into the skyway or sky vault to always be there. I was always taught that as Cherokees we came from the skyway as stars manifesting the energy of the Great One.
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What are the sacred numbers in the Cherokee tradition?
SACRED NUMBERS:
The number three represents the sacredness of relationship, as taught by our Earth Mother. It takes two to create the force, or what the earlier Cherokee as "nv-wo-di" or pronounced as "nah wah t(d)ee." With two of anything, there is always a third existence that supports survival in the form of food, warmth, and wellness to be in harmony and balance. Therefore, the number three was relationship.
Fire was one of those natural elements of Nv-wo-di that is considered sacred, like the number three used in ceremonies as told by the keepers of the secrets or traditions.
The elder teachers say we always will seek to be connected to the place where our relationship takes us back to the first fire. They say that we have a memory in the cells of our body and our spirit that connects us back in time to our ancestry connections. Therefore, we always have a spirit or ancestor guide that links or connects us to the first fire and the beginning of time.
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Why it the connection to ancestry important in the Native American tradition?
ANCESTRY AND CONNECTION:
My grandfather, Oscar Rogers was of the Walkingstick family. That family was from one of the seven mother towns. Prior to the "unsettlement period" when American was beginning to be settlements, our town or was one of the Overhill Settlements in Poke County, Tennessee. It was called the Great Hiwassee or "Ay uh wa si Eg wa hi" near Savannah Ford. There was a strong connection of these families on the Ocoee River near the junction with the Hiwassee River, or "Ug wa hi" and with Chestua or "tsi stu yi" or called Rabbit Place near the mouth of the Chestua Creek at the Hiwassee River in Poke County, Tennessee. While there were many small villages in the Overhill Settlements, eventually it was all lost to expansion of the non-native people. The Middle Settlement of "Kituhwa" or the towns on the headwaters of the Little Tennessee, the Tuckaseegee, and the Tuckaleechee were considered the first settlement. It was the place of refuge for the lower and valley settlements as well during threatening times for the Tribe. Each of us have this "connection with all our relations," as the elder said, "It is important that we know and find our family and life connections to know ourselves and to understand our journey.
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What is the story of the First Fire?
STORY OF THE FIRST FIRE:
The story of the first fire is hared in a legend told by the elders about a time when the animals were concerned about keeping warm in the cold winter nights. According to an elder, "As the story goes there was this large sycamore tree that was across the large water. The animals went to council and asked the 'Ga lon e da' for warmth in the winter. Well, lightning was called upon to strike the tree that caused a fire. The animals could see the smoke from the fire, but they did not know how to get to the fire and to bring the fire back to their homes."
"The snake said he would swim across the water and crawl into the bottom of the tree to get to the fire. The ashes were so hot that to this day he is called the black snake or 'ga le gi.' He failed to bring back the ambers. The Screech Owl, 'wa gu gu' flew across the great water, but his eyes got black circles around them as he looked down at the burning sycamore tree stump. The War Bird called the Raven or 'go lan u' flew to the top of the sycamore to bring the fire home. It burned his feathers and coal smoke covered his wings and body, which is the reason the raven is black today. Finally, the little Water Spider or "kana ne sgi, an a ye hi" asked to bring some fire back across the great water. With ease she skipped across the water, then wove a web on her back to bring a fire ember back for the animals to have warmth. Today she has the back color on her back, but she is credited with giving us fire."
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How was the fire brought into the longhouse?
FIRE BROUGHT INTO THE LONGHOUSE:
It is unsure when fire was actually brought into the hothouses or the longhouses, but the Cherokee did have a "normal" dwelling and a winter hot house with its stores of corn and beans close. One elder said that the Cherokee did not dance around the open fire as shown in films, but in designated areas near the dance ground in front of the council house and away from the ball ground and chunkey yard. Ironically, the houses were built with two large posts with a smaller post between then, packed with clay and grass as a plaster with bark or thatch roofs. Certain houses would be whitewashed with lime and crushed clam shells with a smoke hole, rather than a chimney. Hothouses were used for sleeping during the cold weather called "o si" with a fire pit in the middle and beds around the walls. The beds had short posts for legs and white oak or ash splints woven on a sapling frame. Cane mats were placed on the woven framework and skins for coverings. Later, chimneys were built on the outside with fireplaces. A fire would be kept burning during the day to have a warm inside area for the cold evenings. At bed time, the fire would be banked with ashes with a smoldering fire for smoke to be pulled upward through the smoke hole.
There was hothouse in a designated location as a special place for sweat baths called "a li a lu u ta wa sti." White river rocks were heated in the fire then raked out on a floor where prepared liquids would be poured over the rocks for steam. The old "Medicine" would include barks from cherry, mulberry, persimmon, poplar, sycamore, cucumber tree, and wild parsnip roots. After the baths, the person would take a cold plunge in the river.
The sacred fire would burn in an altar made of clay in the council house. It would be rekindled each year with a ceremony in October/November. This was an "honored fire" called "a tsi la, ga lun kwe ti yi that was kindled by rubbing two pieces of basswood together with dried goldenrod to initiate the fire. Seven woods would be used for the fire including black jack oak, post oak, red oak, locust, redbud, sycamore, and wild plum. Strings of white beads would be place between each pile of wood separated to represent each of the seven clans. On the day of the ceremony, each fire in the homes would be put out and cleaned of old ashes. The women would come to the council house to be given some of the fire to take home to start a new fire. Tobacco would be offered and a feather would be used to fan the smoke in the four directions.
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Why is fire associated with the elders?
THE FIRE AS ELDER:
In the old Cherokee teachings, fire is associated with the elderly, the beloved ones. Today, we have the Eternal Flame at the Mountainside Theatre to represent the important role of fire in the traditional life of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. A beloved man was in earlier times the keeper of the Council House fire. Elderly or old has the connotation of being wise and having some special powers and or connection with the Great One. Fire was sometimes referred to in ceremonies as the Ancient Red or Ancient White or as Grandfather/Grandmother. A similar association is with the sun as a force of nature, as well as the Ancient White relating to the white ashes spread over the grave. Ancient Red was referenced in ceremonies using a sacred fire for the stickball game and with victory with war. The color symbolism also included white with old age, wisdom, purity, and peace.
A sacred belief is that the unity of fire, sun, lightening, and even the rainbow represents a divine power with reference to the Ancient Ones. The old ones believe they will never be struck by lightening because of the close relationship of being elderly. There is also thought to be magical powers in wood or a tree struck by lightning. A sacred word used only in ceremonies in earlier times was "yo wah" and "ga lon e da" that may have been taken from the expression "cho ta un e le eh" that translates as the elder fires above (Ed Sharpe). Earlier Cherokee regarded fire as a grandparent, and it was to be treated with respect, "like the elderly as old ones." Even a piece of burned wood ember or charcoal would be place in a "Medicine bag" for a child that would be away from their grandparents.
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What is the celebration of the fire?
CELEBRATION OF FIRE:
In 1984 at Red Clay in Tennessee there was a Celebration of Togetherness between the Eastern Band and the Cherokee Nation from Oklahoma in April 1984. They united for the first time since the Removal when in 1838 thousands of Cherokees were forced to gather at Red Clay to begin an almost 1,000-mile "Trail of Tears" to Indian Territory in the West. The Sacred Fire was carried to northeastern Oklahoma that was kept alive and even returned to the Qualla Boundary in 1951. The gathering a year before the march west was the last time the Eastern Band as it is called today was with their brothers and sisters of the removed Cherokee Nation.
Fire as a healing and purification in the sweatbath or "a si" was used in ceremonies that included Indian runners and ball players. Tobacco was an essential element as "tso lun e go" or the White Ancient One with certain formulas and incantations in ceremony with the fire.
The association of fire with the sun and the moon or "nun da" means light. The sun or "iga ehin nun da" is the source of the light or "e hi" or day as "ega." The moon is referred to as "nun da su no ehi" where the light or "e hi" is in the night or "su no."
The sun has been referred to in stories as the sister to the moon, the daughter to the moon, and even as in the male gender. The moon has been referred to as the sun's elder brother, the grandfather, and as grandmother moon. The moon in earlier times was even the protector in ceremony and prayer as the protector to the ball player, as the fire is the protector to the hunter. Reference to the sun and moon as "apportioners" in ceremony called "un eh lan u hi."
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What does ceremony mean in the Cherokee tradition?
CEREMONY:
The ceremony for the Spring Full Circle would usually be the Spring Ceremony of Friendship or First New Moon of Spring; however, 2004 is also the time of celebrating the sixth annual ceremony called the "Bounding Bush Ceremony" or "elah uah tah lay kee." This is not a ceremony used in my or my grandfather's lifetime, and little is known about it. It was more of a time of feast and dance. Normally there would be feather hoops held by the dancers as they moved in columns. Instead, a feather Medicine Wheel will be carried by the dance leaders as men and women follow in a single circle, unlike the paired columns of earlier times. Pine needles would be carried and in the center of the circle of dancers would be someone with a box or basket. He would dance around within the circle, singing and holding the box or basket in front for each to drop a piece of tobacco into the box. In earlier times it would be repeated three successive nights.
On the fourth night there would be a feast preceding the dancing that would begin after midnight. On the fourth night the pine needles would be dropped in the box. Everyone would circle around the altar fire as each dancer would approach the fire three times, as the person as keeper of the tobacco and pine needles would offer them to the fire. This would conclude the six great annual ceremonies.
To follow the First New Moon of Spring tradition, women will perform the Friendship Dance. Symbolically, the men will provide meat for the ceremony, while women will provide corn. Seven men and seven women were chosen earlier; however, the "counselors" will choose seven men and women to oversee the ceremony. There is a gathering of the fire on Friday evening. The seven barks (white oak, black oak, water oak, blackjack, basswood, chestnut, and white pine) will be used for the sacred fire and a prayer for strength as helpers, as tobacco is offered to the fire.
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What does it mean to be a keeper of the fire?
My relationship with Fire goes back many years, even into childhood. It is the Great Mystery that called me to Itself. In recent times, my role has been as an active participant in the area of the Sacred, by which I mean, Fire has become my heart's work. It was Thomas Banyanka who noticed me at the Prayer Vigil for the Earth and recognized in me what comes so natural to me -- that I become quite intimate with fire and regard it as a sacred being. I often loose myself. So, I have been serving the fire for the Vigil for about ten years. I have supported an Inipi Sweat lodge community for more than five years, too. For four years until last year I performed Vedic fire rituals called Yagnas, often as many as four a week. For all this, I can truly say that I am still learning, because there is also something more to understand, with which to to resonate and intimate.
Keeping fire is as old as human society and culture. I could go anywhere and tend and keep fire with indigenous people. It is a language -- as often without sounds and in silence as with chant, music, and movement. I relate to it, however, in a singular way -- as steward.
There are some attributes relating to fire that I experience.
• Higher energies from the etheric... Guardians, Ancestors, Angels
• Being One with the Fire. The Fire is sacred.
• Loss of self
• Focus on Something Greater and Universal (Great Spirit, Brahman), even greater than the Fire.
• Prayerfulness and awe
• Concentration and attentiveness , one pointed ness to the fire and surrounding area Constant care of the site is important.
• Guardian and Keeper of the sacred fire area (perhaps, also, a Lodge)
• Inviting in prayerful ways the Four Directions, Mother Earth, Father Sky, and Spirit to bless and support everyone present.
• Mindful about all Beings, especially the Grandfathers trees, sacred plants, and rocks that willingly give their lives for our healing or blessing.
• Guardian for all prayers so they can travel the Sacred Path upwards and be received by Spirit.
• Self-sacrifice and willingness to experience pain or suffer for others, e.g., heat of the Fire, lousy weather, great heat from the Sun, long hours, staying awake sometimes to serve others, long preparation, closing down activities.
• Invite and welcome others to come to the Fire for prayers or encourage them just to be quiet and reflective at the fire.
• Be "on duty" constantly to guard (in a good way) against inappropriate intrusions and violations of the sacred space.
• Respect the protocols about caring for and maintaining the Fire.
• Nurture ("tend") the fire and keep it happy. Listen to and watch it, and learn its language intuitively. Talk to it.
• Feed it appropriately and with the right kinds of wood.
• Take care of yourself so you can take of It.
This is an approximation in words what is really un unspoken relationship, totally non-cognitive, completely heart-giving and a give-away. I have seen only a few natives and others who really know the Fire. Most of us are journeymen/women. One doesn't need a tradition, however, to comprehend this list. It is in the doing, with openness and surrender that makes a fire keeper a steward. Of course, these are my judgments, based on experience.
If you asked me to explain "how all this works," I couldn't. It is like explaining sacred geometry - mathematics or astrology. Something happens that transports the doer (me) into another space (dimension?).
Please tailor to your occasion with the Cherokees as you will.
Many Blessings and much love, Bill
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What is the Cherokee teaching on the origin of disease and medicine?
TEACHINGS: ORIGIN OF DISEASE AND MEDICINE
Cherokee story: Ref: Mooney, Eth. Ann. 19, pg 250-251, Myths of the Cherokees, modified, based on story told by Cherokee Elders.
There was a time when all animals, birds, fish, plants, and all creatures lived in harmony and balance. All was at peace and all could communicate with each other as friends. Each had their own purpose in protecting Mother Earth and in being a helper. Then came the human beings. Of course, the animals and other creatures gave of their spirits so the humans could exist in this life form. Before that, they were thought to be only stars in the sky vault and without form, but light that glowed from the Great One in the Universal Circle.
As the Old Ones told it, the human beings learned to use their minds of will and choice to invent knives, blowguns, spears, hooks, and bows to hunt and kill with ease. The human beings were not very considerate of the frogs on the ground or the worms they stuck a hook into to catch the fish. All creatures came together, except for the human beings for a Grand Council.
Bear was the first to speak in council that was held at Mulberry place under the "Ku wa` hi" mountain. Old White Bear was the chief of the Bear Clan. He was thought to be large in statute and very fair in dealing with these matters. Each complained of the human beings taking more that each shared for their survival. Bear had given of his meat and skins for warmth of the human beings, but they wanted more than Bear could bare. As a matter of fact, Bear and his friends wanted to go to war against the human beings. Their weapon of choice was the bow and arrow, but Bear could not pull back the string with his large claws. Old White Bear objected, saying that Bear could not cut his claws for going to war because he needed his claws to climb trees for food.
Deer was the next to speak in council with Little Deer as their chief. They vowed to give the human beings rheumatism for every hunter that killed without having ceremony and sharing thanks. Deer being very swift could follow the hunter back to his home, if the hunter did not ask for permission to take the life of the deer and share thanks in the appropriate way to honor the spirit of Deer. Most in the Great Council agreed with the
Deer Clan.
Fish and Snake spoke next in council, while the Whale and Rattler represented their concern. Of course, Snake said that he could use a venom and bite the human beings. Most agreed with this action to protect themselves. Fish said they were tricked by the human beings, knowing that they really like worms. Both Snake and Fish said they would come into the dreams of the human beings so they would get sick or afraid.
Bird and the small insects said they had an agreement for survival of their young, but the human beings did not honor the balance cycle of the birds and the small insects. Hawk and Grub worm represented the concerns by suggesting that the lives of the human beings would be taken every time they would kill the bird for food or crush the insects under their feet. Most thought this was too revengeful. Bird reminded them of how the hunter would place him on the fire and burn his tiny feet. Even Frog spoke of being stepped on to the point that his back was rough from the sores on his back. He wanted to place sores on the skin of the human beings. Squirrel told of the story of how human beings would shoot him with an arrow, then cut his tail off and wear it on his head. One could tell that the anger was very strong in council. All the little animals complained about the cruel deeds of the human beings.
One by one, the animals and others in council thought of diseases to give the human beings. Some of the diseases would just make them sick, and other would result in death. Once this was decided, they all said, "Wah Doh!" [Thanks!]
It was time for Plant to speak. She was filled with concern and compassion for the human beings. Reminding all in council that like Bird, the human beings worked in the planting field to have more plants, shrubs, and trees. Plant said that they would provide herbs, tree bark, grasses, and mosses to provide a cure for everyone of the disease named in council. Plant said that she would respond when the human beings called upon them for help, as intended by the Great One for all things in harmony and balance.
All plants, even weeds would have some medicinal purpose to be a helper to all human beings.
To this day, the plants, trees, shrubs, flowers, grasses, mosses, and even the weeds have a special remedy as medicine to cure and to be a helper to all the diseases and illness of the human beings.
J.T. Garrett, Ed.D., M.P.H.
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What is the Ute Prayer?
UTE PRAYER
Earth Teach Me
• Earth teach me stillness as the grasses are stilled with light...
• Earth teach me suffering as old stones suffer with memory...
• Earth teach me humility as blossoms are humble with beginning...
• Earth teach me caring as the mother who secures her young...
• Earth teach me courage as the tree which stands all alone...
• Earth teach me limitation as the ant which crawls on the ground...
• Earth teach me freedom as the eagle which soars in the sky...
• Earth teach me resignation as the leaves which die in the fall...
• Earth teach me regeneration as the seed which rises in the spring...
• Earth teach me to forget myself as melted snow forgets its life...
• Earth teach me to remember kindness as dry fields weep with rain...
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What is the Pine Straw Dance?
Pine Straw Dance
First we must understand the importance of the Pine Tree, which grows, in our Earth Mother. In Cherokee tradition the story goes like this:
"Long ago, when the world was new, there were seven boys who used to spend all their time down by the townhouse playing the gatayu'sti game, rolling a stone wheel along the ground and sliding a curved stick after it to strike it. Their mothers scolded, but it did no good, so one day they collected some gatayu'sti stones and boiled them in the pot with the corn for dinner. When the boys came home hungry their mothers dipped out the stones and said, "Since you like the gatayu'sti better than the cornfield, take the stones now for your dinner."
The boys were very angry, and went down to the townhouse, saying, "As our mothers treat us this way, let us go where we shall never trouble them any more." They began a dance-some say it was the Feather dance-and went round and round the townhouse, praying to the spirits to help them. At last their mothers were afraid something was wrong and went out to look for them. They saw the boys still dancing around the townhouse, and as they watched they noticed that their feet were off the earth, and that with every round they rose higher and higher in the air. They ran to get their children, but it was too late, for they were already above the roof of the townhouse-all but one, whose mother managed to pull him down with the gatayu'sti pole, but he struck the ground with such force that he sank into it and the earth closed over him.
The other six circled higher and higher until they went up to the sky, where we see them now as the Pleiades, which the Cherokee still call Ani'tsutsa (The Boys). The people grieved long after them, but the mother whose boy had gone into the ground came every morning and every evening to cry over the spot until the earth was damp with her tears. At last a little green shoot sprouted up and grew day by day until it became the tall tree that we call now the pine, and the pine is of the same nature as the stars and holds in itself the same bright light." -pp 258,259 James Mooney
For this reason the straw from this tree must pass to the female energy of the Circle in acknowledgment that honor is being given to the female for her headship on our earth mother. She bares all things and yet bestows unconditional love and can endure much more pain than a man can even began to conceive. Therefore, we of the Men's council would request that the women's council to accept this offering of pine straw in our dance.
The dance represents the interchange of energy between male and female and our own oneness or wholeness within the circle of life. As the drum is the heartbeat of our Earth Mother and tradition, as always has had the male as drummer and dancers closest to the drum, we will start our dance in the same format in respect for our Elders and tradition. The dance will begin with a tradition style song, the women will be on the outside of the circle as least six to seven paces back from the drum, doing a simple one-step (toe-to-heal) in place and rising their arms and hands to the sky. The men (holding pine straw) will dance clockwise four (4) times around the drum using the same toe-to-heal step. After the four (4) rotations have been made around the drum, the men will take two (2) steps back placing us in the present. Dancing towards the drum represent moving into the future out of the past to the present and on into the future.
Dancing away from the drum represents moving to the present with two (2) steps and back four (4) more steps into the past in memory and honor of the six Pleiades. As the men dance to the present the women move to join them. At this position all dancers are in the present. The men will exchange the pine straw and join hands with the women, try to be equally spaced and dance a friendship dance around the circle one (1) rotation around the drum in a clockwise direction. Then release hands and allow the women to dance two steps towards the drum and four (4) women to the drum as drummers in honor of the four (4) directions. After the women are in harmony with the drum, the women dancers are to dance six (6) rotations around the drum in a clockwise direction, gifting Earth Mother a little pine straw for each rotation around the drum, once again in memory, as the men dance six (6) rotations around the drum in a counter-clockwise direction with thought of forgiveness from Earth Mother, feeling her pain and praying for her healing. Once each has completed their rotations around the drum, may the two circles join again by holding hands and dancing the friendship dance in a clockwise direction as close to the drum as possible, but this time dance two (2) rotations around the drum in unity as human beings and as ONE.
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Humor and Gender Translations from the Garretts
GENDER TRANSLATIONS:
I'M GOING FISHIN." Really means..."I'm going to drink myself dangerously stupid, and stand by a stream with a stick in my hand, while the fish swim by in complete safety."
"IT'S A GUY THING." Really means...."There is no rational thought pattern connected with it, and you have no chance at all of making it logical."
"CAN I HELP WITH DINNER?" Really means...."Why isn't it already on the table?"
"UH HUH," "SURE, HONEY," OR "YES, DEAR." Really means....Absolutely nothing. It's a conditioned response.
"IT WOULD TAKE TOO LONG TO EXPLAIN." Really means..."I have no idea how it works.
"TAKE A BREAK, HONEY, YOU'RE WORKING TOO HARD." Really means...."I can't hear the game over the vacuum cleaner."
"THAT'S INTERESTING, DEAR." Really means...."Are you still talking?"
"YOU KNOW HOW BAD MY MEMORY IS." Really means.... "I remember the theme song to 'F Troop, the address of the first girl I ever kissed and the Vehicle Identification Numbers of every car I've ever owned, but I forgot your birthday."
" WAS JUST THINKING ABOUT YOU, AND GOT YOU THESE ROSES."
Really means.... "The girl selling them on the corner was a real babe."
"HEY, I'VE GOT MY REASONS FOR WHAT I'M DOING."
Really means.... "And I sure hope I think of some pretty soon."
"I CAN'T FIND IT."
Really means.... "It didn't fall into my outstretched hands, so I'm completely clueless."
"WHAT DID I DO THIS TIME?"
Really means.... "What did you catch me at?"
"I HEARD YOU."
Really means.... "I haven't the foggiest clue what you just said, and am hoping desperately that I can fake it well the next 3 days yelling at me."
"YOU KNOW I COULD NEVER LOVE ANYONE ELSE."
Really means.... "I am used to the way you yell at me, and realize it could be worse."
"YOU LOOK TERRIFIC."
Really means.... "Oh, God, please don't try on one more outfit. I'm starving."
"I'M NOT LOST. I KNOW EXACTLY WHERE WE ARE."
Really means.... "No one will ever see us alive again."
"WE SHARE THE HOUSEWORK."
Really means.... "I make the messes, she cleans them up."
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